The network did air the Who after “Animal Practice” and the local news, around midnight. But this didn’t seem to satisfy some fans who couldn’t believe the oversight of dumping Muse, whose contribution was particularly important to the summer Olympics.

As @ alexheberlingposted, “Did they not know that Muse did the OFFICIAL SONG OF THE LONDON 2012 GAMES? UGH.

Others were annoyed that the Who aired so late on a Sunday night as a tape delay when the network failed to air the event live on a Sunday afternoon. Mia Farrow (yes, that Mia Farrow) tweeted, “Hey @nbc it’s SUNDAY! Many of us would LOVE to be watching Olympic closing ceremonies right now.”

NBC’s Twitter feed appeared to warn viewers the ceremony was about to come to an end before the actual end.

Despite the complaints about the defects of the closing ceremony, the ratings were through the roof. NBC reported that 21.8 million viewers tuned in. The London Games also had a record number of viewers, on average 31.1 million viewers in prime time, the most-watched non-U.S. summer games since Montreal in 1976, according to Forbes.

A request to NBC for a comment on the coverage has not yet been returned.